Moving away from Stankovich: how Spartak will play after the coach's dismissal

The second round of the Russian Football Championship begins this week. It starts with the 16th round, which will include two top matches. On Saturday we will have the Spartak – CSKA Moscow derby. The red and white will face one of the leaders of the championship after the dismissal of their head coach Dejan Stankovic. On Sunday, two teams from the leading group will play — the capital's Lokomotiv will host the current national champion, Krasnodar. It is also worth noting the Dynamo derby — the Moscow team will compete with Makhachkala teammates in the first match after Valery Karpin's retirement.

Spartak – CSKA

Many in the club and football circles knew back in October that Dejan Stankovic's days at the head of Spartak were numbered. There were constant rumors in the media about finding a replacement for him. The change of the club's CEO a month ago also suggested similar thoughts. And the team's disastrous results for a year and a half under the leadership of a Serbian specialist did not give optimism.

Nevertheless, the way his dismissal happened surprised me anyway. It happened two days after the 2-1 away victory over Akhmat Grozny in the 15th round of the championship. In total, in the last five matches before the national team break, Spartak won four — two in the championship and two in the Russian Cup. Moreover, the last cup victory was at home over Lokomotiv with a score of 3:1 in the first quarterfinal match of the "RPL Paths". As early as next week, following the results of the return game, the red-whites can advance to the next round.

The only loss in the last month occurred in an away match of the championship against the leader and current champion Krasnodar (1:2). There seemed to be improvements. They did not help Spartak to rise above sixth place in the RPL, but at least they left him not the most disastrous gap from the leaders — eight points from first place and five from third.

But over the past month and a half, the already emotional Stankovich has been caught up in several scandals. Previously, it was marked only by disqualifications for insulting judges. But in mid-October, a 47-year-old specialist was interviewed in the Serbian edition of Kurir. There, Deyan linked the conversations in the Russian public about his resignation from Spartak solely to the fact that he is a foreigner.

This is despite the fact that the club provided total support to this foreigner for a year and a half of his work. Under him, about €50 million was spent on newcomers, a record in the history of the red and white. But in the last championship, Spartak finished outside the top three — in fourth place. Nevertheless, immediately after such a failure, the club extended the original three—year contract with Stankovic for one year - it was now valid until the summer of 2027.

Against the background of such trust, the Serbian coach was unable to improve his results in the new championship draw. And following the scandalous interview with the media of his country, he also noted strange behavior after the end of the last two matches.

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At a press conference after the cup victory over Loko, he said that he was tired and "wanted to go home to his family and daughter," after which he left, refusing to answer questions from journalists. And in Grozny, after the victory over Akhmat, he emotionally snapped at a Match TV correspondent live during a post-match flash interview, offended by a question about his conversation with the referee on the sidelines during the game. And he didn't come to the press conference.

Two days later, Spartak announced the resignation of the head coach. Vadim Romanov, who previously worked as Stankovich's assistant and before that led the red and white youth team for two years, was appointed acting in his place. Most likely, he will lead the foundation until the winter break.

— It's hard to predict how much the dismissal of the head coach will affect the team, — Andrey Chervichenko, the former owner of Spartak, shared his opinion with Izvestia. — On the one hand, it is strange that Stankovich was removed after a series of victories and was not replaced by a permanent head coach. And this may affect the team in the match against CSKA. On the other hand, it is possible that Dejan's emotional attacks have annoyed not only the club's leaders, but also the players. And now they will calm down a little, make fewer mistakes, and argue with the referees (and many football players have become like a coach in this regard, having watched his eternal concerts at the edge). Here, on the basis of this stabilization of the general situation within the team, they can gather and beat CSKA. That's how the army team looks like the favorite in terms of the quality of the game, but against the background of Spartak's coach change, it's extremely difficult to name the favorite of the match.

CSKA finished the second round in second place, second only to Krasnodar. Moreover, they are inferior only in terms of additional indicators with equal points. The Army team has won six times and lost once in the last seven rounds. But it was very difficult for them to meet with the teams from the bottom of the table. The last three victories — at home over Samara "Wings of the Soviets" (1:0), "Pari Nizhny Novgorod" (2:0) and away over Makhachkala "Dynamo" (1:0) were achieved with a minimum number of chances at someone else's gate. Nevertheless, Fabil Celestini's players are among the leaders and are seriously fighting for the championship.

"It's going to be a very important and difficult match against a good, strong opponent," CSKA defender Igor Diveev said in a conversation with Izvestia. — But we will do everything to beat the red-whites again, as we managed to do a month ago. Was Stankovich's dismissal from Spartak surprising? Spartak is not my team. I'm thinking about CSKA and how to win the next match with my club. I prepare for the Spartak derby the same way, regardless of who trains them. If Stankovich were still their head coach, I would be preparing for him the same way I'm going to prepare now that he's fired.

Lokomotiv – Krasnodar

If it were not for the special status of the Spartak and CSKA derby as the most fundamental confrontation in the modern history of Russian football, the match between Lokomotiv and Krasnodar could be called the central one in the upcoming round.

Lokomotiv suffered only one defeat in the first round, away from Zenit (0:2). At the same time, he made a lot of draws with teams from the middle and bottom of the table, which led to his current position in fourth place. Nevertheless, the railwaymen are only three points behind the leading Krasnodar and will catch up with it if they win.

The Bulls lose almost all points in this championship with the teams from the top of the table. In the games where they are considered favorites, Murad Musayev's team manages without misfires, which allows it to claim a second gold in a row. But going to Loko must be difficult for Krasnodar.

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"Lokomotiv is playing pretty well against the favorites this season, so it can cling to victory in this match," Nikolai Naumov, former president of the railroad workers, told Izvestia. — After all, he managed to beat Krasnodar in the first round away, back in the summer. Spartak (4:2), Dynamo (5:3) and CSKA (3:0) were also beaten. Only the Zenit team failed. But she knows how to play great as number two in free space against the favorites who are trying to attack more. The current Loko has problems with teams from the bottom, defending with a low block, not giving space to the opponent. But Krasnodar is not one of those. He will try to dominate the field. He has enough class to play with everyone from a position of strength, but the question is whether this is enough to defeat the current Lokomotiv.

Dynamo (Moscow) – Dynamo (Makhachkala)

Few people expected that during the break for the national team games, Valery Karpin would leave the post of head coach of Dynamo Moscow. But it happened. Such an unobvious course of events was predicted by Sport-Express, which published this information on November 12, the day of the Russian national team's match against Peru (1-1). Karpin also heads the Russian national team, combining this job with a similar position at Dynamo since the summer.

On Saturday, November 15, he and the national team played in Sochi against Chile (0:2), after which he returned to Dynamo. And on Monday, he announced his retirement from the club, citing the need to focus on the national team and see his family more often.

At the same time, Dynamo's own results for six months under Karpin were extremely disastrous. The team finished the first round in 10th place in the championship. Although she finished last season in fifth place, which did not save her from the dismissal of the previous head coach Marcel Lichka, who lost his post four rounds before the finish after being eliminated from the Russian Cup.

The blue and white team is 16 points behind the first place and 13 points behind the third. And now we have to think more about how to avoid getting into the transition zone (13th-14th places) for the right to stay in the RPL. Dynamo's lead from her is only three points. Currently, Dynamo Makhachkala and Krylia Sovetov Samara are in 12th and 13th places.

It is with the Dagestani club that Dynamo Moscow will play at home next Saturday. If the blue and white lose and the Samaritans win their match, Karpin's former team will be right next to the junction zone. Since Monday, Rolan Gusev has been working as the acting head coach. He already performed these functions in May, at the end of last season, after the dismissal of Lichka. He also worked as an assistant for Lichka and Karpin.

"It's going to be a very difficult match with an unpredictable result," Sergei Silkin, former Dynamo Moscow head coach, told Izvestia. — I want to believe that the team will relax and improve after Karpin's dismissal. In principle, this already happened in the spring, when Gusev was in charge of her after her dismissal. But this fall Dynamo were in a much worse condition. And it's unclear if Roland will be able to fix something so quickly. Especially against the background of such an unyielding and combative opponent as Makhachkala, which defends well, knows how to catch on the counterattack and is able to impose a fight on anyone.

There will also be five more matches in the next round. Zenit St. Petersburg will visit Pari Nizhny Novgorod. Samara Krylia Sovetov will play at home against Rostov. Tolyatti Akron is waiting for Sochi. Rubin Kazan will host Akhmat Grozny in its native walls. Orenburg will face Baltika Kaliningrad on their home field.